My shepherd

I'm doing something entirely mindless at work today - lots of entering numbers into a spreadsheet I built for tracking purposes. So, I'm ensconsed (begrudgingly) in Excel and (happily) in my ipod.

The last three songs that have played on shuffle have been Christian pop/rock songs. Perhaps God is telling me to hang in there.

Unfortunately, God was not with me during my final swig of Starbucks coffee this morning, the composition of which was 60% cold coffee and 40% coffee grounds.

My evenings during the playoffs

So after the Yankees elected not to show up to the playoffs (as exhibited by most of their post-season escapades since 2001), I vowed that I was done watching baseball this year. But that was a veiled threat. The Sox are still the center of socializing here in town, and I can rather choose to be a grump and not spend time with friends during the games, or suck it up and watch the games.

Friday night, we went to Doug's house and I brought my laptop (because uploading and tagging to Flickr was a far more interesting proposition than actually watching the game). It was just nice to be out with friends. The game didn't interest me.

Now before last night's game, I figured I would flip over to FOX ever so often during the game just to see how good Cleveland really was. Once I saw that the score was 7-1 in the 5th inning, I concluded that Cleveland was indeed THAT GOOD and I returned to my DVR, cruising through a couple Sarah Silverman shows, and watching a recent VH1 Rock Honors featuring Heart, Ozzy Osbourne, ZZ Top, and a shockingly bad Genesis (who have some GREAT songs, but sounded awful at that particular performance).

I don't understand why there's an off day tonight in the middle of a series in the same city. I guess FOX wants big ratings on a Thursday evening against all the big shows on the other networks (if Thursday was an off night, FOX would be conceding the ratings to the others).

Jamen Edition

I was e-yelled at by Jamen yesterday for not posting pictures of him in Italy. Apparently, on Saturday night, I told him I would post about him first thing Monday morning, and it must have escaped me. So now, I present Jamen (aka "TAKE MY PICTURE, TAKE MY PICTURE")

I'm really digging the monochrome shots. The unposed ones of Jamen are pretty much the only ones where he looks different, because he definitely has a camera face that, when presented a photo op, he never ceases to wear. This was at the Roman Forum, undoubtedly contemplating some gelato.
I love this shot too - everybody in Pisa takes a picture of them "holding up" the Leaning Tower. I guess it's the fault of the photographer when a subject is improperly positioned, but I did this on purpose. Insert Southern intellect comment here. Just kidding.









Positano, one of the highlights. After a delicious meal, we of course had limoncello sitting cliffside overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. This was my first official limoncello, as Ryan bought a bottle in Rome, but gave me a swig of it at room temperature. It tasted like cough medicine. Here, however, served ice cold, it was perfect.







Moments later, Jamen put on his limoncello face, which he also wore on Saturday night when he dropped by and Ryan, he, and I cracked open one of the bottles I packed in my luggage.

Farmacia

Farmacia, originally uploaded by southiejason.

We never stopped in any of these farmacias, but they seemed to be ubiquitous throughout each of the major cities we hit.

Originally, I took this picture in B&W, but it appeared much too dark. I added a sepia filter effect using Picasa (Google's very cool free downloadable photo organizing and editing software), and ended up with this. I try not to add too many effects to my photos, but digital darkrooms are amazing and can truly turn lemons into lemonade.

Lonely bicycle

Lonely bicycle, originally uploaded by southiejason.

I remember the exact time in Italy that I discovered the power of monochrome photos with my Canon DSLR camera. I missed the Tuscan bike tour after a late night of debauchery, and went to lunch in Siena with Ryan (who also missed the tour).

The beauty of that moment is the world of interesting photo ops it created for me, as Italian cities in particular scream out at the prospect of being captured in black and white or sepia tone.

Here's a simple picture of a bicycle I snapped in Florence during a walking tour. Sometimes the best pics are not of monuments, people, or famous places. It's the unplanned moment, the quick composition, or the lucky shot that make for the great photos.

Bizarre pocket deuces

I'm not super tired yet after being attentive during a long drive back in the pouring rain from New Jersey this evening. So I am up late playing poker. Again.

The weirdest thing just happened which makes me a tad suspicious and freaked out.

I'm playing three tables consecutively, and at the same time, I was dealt pocket deuces on all three tables. Not the same exact two deuces, but simply two deuces (with four suits, there are 6 ways to receive pocket deuces). There are 169 different starting hands that can be dealt to a player during hold 'em (pocket deuces are one of these 169, not six. taking all two-card combinations into account, there are 1,326 of those).

What are the odds that the same starting hand would be dealt to one player at the same time while playing three tables? I'm thinking (1/169) x (1/169) x (1/169) = (1/4,826,809) = .000021%. Could that be?

I did make a set of two's on the flop on one of those boards (i.e. I got a third 2 when the first three community cards were revealed at one table) and won a nice pot as a result. The other two hands were folds, but the net of all three tables was great.

Too much to think about. maybe it is time for bed. I'm hearing thunder in the distance and a lightning strike might be up my alley.

1 year of Platinum Elite

Wow, it just kind of dawned to me that today is the 1 year anniversary of Platinum Elite, and this is posting #276. Looking back, it's quite amazing to me that I kept up with posting here, but it's not a shocker that I had a lot to say (about nothing in particular I might add, come to think of it).

Nonetheless, I'm a bit busy with work today, so the anniversary posting will have to be short.

Nice to see you too!

I am visiting my parents this evening, and during dinner my father commented that I was looking "husky," and that at 32 years of age he (who now has a big pot belly) was thinner than I am.

Bringing order to my memories

I just joined another photo community yesterday - Flickr. I probably should have been on there a while ago, but now have finally come around to it. The site is an excellent social network / photo community, much more than a photo depository such as Photobucket.

The challenge now is getting started - uploading the photos I would like to share, tagging them, naming them, and giving brief descriptions of each. Really, it just takes some time to do. Working late and falling asleep early makes that a difficult endeavor. But once that is all set up, I will share the link to my Flickr profile.

It's a personality trait of mine, but I enjoy things that are in order. Perhaps that's a twinge OCD. Nonetheless, my itunes is organized well, and now it's time do do the same with my photos. Right now, I have them categorized into photos (and a general "Unassigned" folder that I really need to go through soon - it's the "junk drawer" of photos that I just haven't taken the time to put in the right spots).

Ole!

During my time with my present job, I have been asked to post a number of our open positions for my company on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.

Somehow I have ended up sorted into one of their database distribution lists that thinks I'm also looking for a new job in Southern California.

My favorite position on this list is as a Tortilleria Clerk in Lynwood, California. I have always had a strong affinity for flattening corn meal, all day long.

Who is in charge of marketing at Sonic?

While I understand that Sonic is indeed a national chain of fast food joints, and I realize that there are people watching the TBS broadcast of the Yanks-Indians series who do not live in Cleveland or New York, isn't it still a bit of an inefficient marketing spend when the closest Sonic restaurant to Cleveland is 108.77 miles away, and the closest one to New York City is 105.83 miles away from in Morgantown, PA (which is 292.25 miles from Southie)?

I'm sure their burgers are tasty, but not worth that kind of drive!

Schnappi

I decided to check out some XM Radio this morning at work, and landed on U-POP Channel 29, which is always good for some interesting hits from non-US countries.

They just played this song, which I learned (after a couple quick Google searches) was a top-charting hit in Germany a couple years ago.

I definitely prefer this to anything by Sean Kingston.

Back on the Sauce

I did something this weekend that I haven't done in quite some time.

I cooked a fresh pot of sauce.

It just felt right today - lazy Sunday, big sports day, a bit chilly outside. The perfect combo for a pot of sauce with meatballs and sausage.

Growing up, Sunday meals almost always included something with homemade tomato sauce (but, like many Italian households, we sometimes called it "gravy"). And every month or so, my parents cooked up a big pot of sauce to be used that evening, but primarily frozen for meals throughout the following few weeks.

During my senior year at college, I had an off-campus apartment with two friends, and we were off meal plan for both semesters. I remember having my mother write up the sauce recipe and fax it to the radio station where I worked (they didn't have email yet). I still have that same exact fax, and although I know the bulk of the recipe, I pulled it out today just to be sure I was all set.

I used to make sauce all the time when I lived in NJ, and when I had roommates in the South End before moving into Southie (where we resurrected big meal Sundays and my roommate Mike and I had an undeclared yet understood ongoing culinary competition).

I think I moved away from the sauce during my many attempts to restrict carbs. After my trip last week, however, I learned that you just can't truly take the macaroni out of the Italians.

Drinking helps with the losses

I am a bit drained after yesterday's game (I'm referring to the Yankees latest playoff loss), and it is becoming evident to me that the Yanks of the 2000's simply cannot win in the playoffs. They were big game players and a big game team back from 1996-2000, but besides the ALCS against Boston where they actually won, the Yankees cannot get the job done. It's quite heartening to watch a team for 6 months fall apart during one final week, but I am getting used to it.

Part of me is tempted to burn my Yanks hat and shirt, because when I wear them, they never seem to win. But, I can't get myself to doing that. The 1980's were worse for them, and I was able to stomach through.

Even after last night's disappointment, I'm happy to be home for a weekend. Plus, it's nice to be back in Boston during a weekend AND be off the wagon (drinking makes the losses easier to take). Summer Lent is over, and the last time I had a sip of booze here in Boston during a weekend was eight weekends ago.

I'm glad we have some decent weather today - I might grab my camera again and head downtown.

Childhood Exuberance

Sometimes it's the random and unplanned photos that are the ones that make you smile.

I love the sheer look of excitement and discovery on this child's face while kicking a soccer ball outside of the Duomo in Orvieto, Italy.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Déjà vu

When I traveled to Italy twelve years ago, my flight was my first solo flight and first overseas flight. It was also at the advent of email, Internet websites and message boards, and before cell phones were ubiquitous.

So I could understand my father's concern when he was putting his son on a flight to a foreign land by himself, with the promise of meeting his already-having-flown-over friends outside of the American Express office at the Spanish Steps in Rome at a designated time.

Back then, we were backpacking, which usually involved showing up in a new city by train without a place to sleep that night. My first night in Italy was nothing different, only that I was not 100% guaranteed to meet my travel mates.

Somehow, I had the smarts to post on some random AOL travel forum, asking how to get from Rome's airport to the Spanish Steps via public transit. Somebody replied with a lengthy and detailed step-by-step description of how to accomplish this feat. I remember showing the printout to my father, and having to answer questions about the Internet, message boards, who this random person was giving directions, and why I should trust them.

During our first night in Rome, we did a brief walking tour that took us to the very spot I met my friends over twelve years ago. Lots of Déjà vu to have returned to that spot.

And this restaurant was the very first dining establishment at which we ate during that first trip, again twelve years later.

I distinctly recall my friend Andrea speaking in Spanish to the server, and my being amazed that Spanish was close enough to Italian that she was able to communicate effectively speaking it in Italy. At the time, I knew zero Spanish, so I could not join in, but that moment was likely my motivation to break into terrible Spanish every so often during this tour in an effort to communicate when English didn't work.

Portraits in Italy

My body clock is definitely still off, since I crashed around 9:15 last night, went to bed, and woke up without alarm at 5am. I am taking advantage of my wacky body schedule to hit the gym before work, and I'm 2 for 2 thus far.


So, I haven't had the chance to review the photos at length just yet, but there are many good ones. I love this Canon Digital SLR, and I am becoming more comfortable using it.


I admit, I like having my picture taken (these days - mostly chest up, however, as I work off the gelato that is my midsection). The issue of taking pictures with a good camera that is mine, is that I'm not in many of them. And the ones I am in aren't usually the best shots, since someone else is usually taking those pictures. They are not awful, but I can notice some focus or lighting issues.


For example: me, Trevi fountain, good but the background is a touch out of focus.





Whereas, here's a shot of Jamen (aka "Take my picture!! Take my Picture!!") in Positano, where I reduced the depth of field to focus better on the subject (i.e. him).



Or this shot of Ryan outside the Colosseum. I thought it merited a monochrome shot because of the stark colors and magnitude of the building.

Or this one of Chris, which is one of my favorite portrait shots of the whole trip. For some reason, I nailed it with the shallow depth of focus but recognizable background (Duomo in Florence), sepia monochrome, and good pose of the subject.

Back in the USA

I'm happy to say that I have returned from Tuscany - a little more cultured, a little fatter, and having enjoyed plenty of adult beverages during my time away. To my surprise, I had no bare-knuckle fights with Jamen, Chris, and Ryan. As far as I can tell, we are still friends - always a question mark when traveling with people who had never been travel companions.

The Contiki tour was great, and our time on the Amalfi coast after the tour was even better. Between the hectic schedule of the tour, and the difficulty finding reliable Internet access (even in the big cities), I completely ignored email, posting to Platinum Elite, and the news in general. That was oddly gratifying, but now I find myself with a full DVR of season premieres, and a packed Inbox.

Catching up, I learned that the Mets blew their lead in the NL East, Miss Moneypenny died, the Giants defense suddenly awoke, the Yanks lost the division but thankfully avoided yet another first round exit by Anaheim by pairing up against Cleveland, and that limoncello rocks (OK, that's not really news...but still true).

I have tons of pictures to wade through, and will post some along with Italy stories later this week.

The End of Summer Lent

I'm headed off for vacation today to Italy, somewhere I haven't been in over twelve years. Actually, I have never been to Europe in late September, so I am looking forward to some comfortable temperatures during this trip!

Today also marks the end of Summer Lent. Thank God. Well, technically the day ends at midnight, but since it will be after midnight at my destination, I'm thinking that an 8pm cocktail at Newark Airport is permissible.

I believe I will be much more tolerable to my friends once I resume drinking. I plan to put that experiment to test often with much chianti and limoncello during my time in Tuscany.

Open Letter to Red Sox Nation

Dear RSN,

I truly am rooting for your team to make the playoffs. And I do think it's going to happen this year.

But limping across the finish line is a tough way to enter the post season.

And I don't want a 3-and-out first round for you guys. I, too, want to see Sox-Yanks in the ALCS.

Unfortunately, your team is not winning.

This is your chance to with the first AL East Title in 10 years. A full decade! All it takes are a few more wins.

I have seen this story before, though. Not just the monumental collapse, but the bullpen that failed. Okajima last weekend, Gagne last night, Papelbon tonight.

If your team had not won on Saturday, they would now be in second place.

As implausible as climbing back from 14.5 games behind sounds, we're just 1.5 back now. Less than a sweep of a double header.

Please get with the program. I want to see Yanks-Sox in the ALCS. I really do.

You are ruining it.

Please begin to win.

Thank you,
A concerned Yankees fan.

Another Match Game death

I'm a couple days late with this, but I just caught wind that Brett Somers died on Monday. First Charles Nelson Reilly, now her. Granted, the Match Game crew is way up there in years, but they live on in their own little time capsule on GSN.

I remember moving to my first apartment in Princeton, NJ over ten years ago, and my cousin Bryan and I discovered a live cable line after a long day of moving my stuff up three flights of stairs. We sat in my one air-conditioned room, and watched Match Game for hours.

I have always loved classic game shows - whether it's their simplicity or memory of my childhood, I never picked up in the adult overtones (and overall stupid humor) of Match Game. I still think its one of the funniest shows on TV, and (along with The Brady Bunch) just one of those shows that when flipping past, I always stop and watch.

Neck Pillow

I just checked my calendar, and by the time I'm ready to leave for Italy on Friday night, it will have been 81 days since my last flight. I am truly not used to these huge gaps of time between visits to Airworld, and the irony is that Platinum Elite was conceived in an airport, meant to depict the lunacy of business travel.

Hard to do that when the job becomes more of a Boston endeavor (or getting to other nearby cities via car). I believe that will be changing once again come the fall and beyond, as our corporate team is growing, and I will be able to resume hitting the road and working on-site again.

So Friday marks my first overnight flight in quite some time (probably since Athens last year), and I should be switching my schedule to adjust for being super tired around 10pm. Rather, I'm up until 12:30 as usual. I bought a neck pillow at the outlets a couple weekends ago, so I'm going to be joining the legions of silly looking Airworldians who have probably been less weary than I, due to the added comfort. I thought of adding some NyQuil to the mix to knock me out.

But Friday also marks the end of Summer Lent, which means red wine. Is it bad to mix NyQuil and red wine at 35,000 feet after not having drunk in over a month?

Bad decision

I came into a last-minute Sox-Yanks ticket yesterday. The seats that our managing partner has are incredible - 5th row to the right of the Sox dugout.

I ran into Doug while entering the gates, so I knew he was there at the game too. During the 5th inning, my boss, his wife, and son had to leave for a few reasons, so I texted Doug to come join me if his seats were bad. He brought a friend over, and stayed for a couple innings.

This game is a loooong one (it's almost 11pm and we're still in the 7th), I'm a bit tired and at the end of a cold, and the Yanks are losing 7-2, and once again sitting there alone.

I left during Take Me Out To The Ballgame in the middle of the 7th....

...to awake to the headline:

"Mammoth Rally carries Yanks past Red Sox"

The Yanks scored 6 in the top of the 8th, and I was home watching The DaVinci Code.

I deserve to have my Yankees membership card rescinded. I feel empty.

Burger Countdown

I had the strangest thought today during lunch.

The closest eatery to my office in UBurger. For a fast food burger joint, they have very tasty burgers, onion rings, and fries. Their frappes look great too, but I'm in my final seven days of my Summer Lent, and frappes are not an approved beverage.

Upon sitting down to eat my cheeseburger, I looked at it and wondered how many more burgers I will eat during the remainder of my life.

I don't usually eat more than one burger each week (actually, this is a liberal estimate). Let's say three per month. 12 months in a year, 36 burgers per year.

I'm turning 33 in November, and hope to have another good 50 years at least. Some quick math, carry the three, and I'm thinking I have about 1,800 burgers left in me.

Of course that's assuming I don't go all vegan or anything during my upcoming Autumn Lent.

New look, still sick

Something got screwed up with my template (perhaps Jason Fox, the rapper, did not like being called out), so I had to shift some things around, bite the bullet, and switch over the the new Blogger Beta templates, which I customized to look similar to how I like things.

I had a perfect rant set up for this morning, but I'm kind of dragging with this cold (day 4), and it has entered the sore throat phase. Pudding and soup this weekend! I'm half considering working from home today. Actually, I'm 75% considering it...

Jason Fox

Somehow, my freshman year in college, I selected the name Jason Fox as my radio name.

It stuck.

And it's cheezy.

I made sure to note that Fox was spelled with one X and not two, thereby avoiding a serving on cheeze on top of cheeze.

But I'm at home, catching up on my Entertainment Weekly magazines, and I see a half-page blurb about some rapper also named Jason Fox, who has some stupid song called "Aunt Jackie," complete with a ridiculous dance.

This is clearly old news, as this video was posted on YouTube months ago.

But nonetheless, I feel strangely violated. Jason Fox was MY cheezy alter ego. Who is this poser?

NFL Opening Weekend

Opening day of the football season, anticipation of a couple months of awesome football and baseball overlap, and in a very un dude-like manner, I find a way to dart off to the Wrentham Outlets for the day.

We drove down there early, which was perfect. When I saw an empty parking lot around 10:30, I figured that everybody was home watching the Pats. What I didn't realize is that the mass of shoppers just hadn't shown up yet, undoubtedly off at church or brunching banana chocolate chip pancakes.

After we ate lunch around 12:30 at the Pizzeria Uno's near the entrance and drove back up the hill for more shopping greatness, we realized that about 17,000 cars had just arrived and taken all of the prime spots. Luckily, this wasn't around the holidays, and there were still spots off in the end cap lots. Additional walking balanced the guilt of buffalo chicken quesadillas and an extended credit card workout.

When it was all said and done, somehow I ended up with eight new pairs of pants, an umbrella, a few shirts and socks, a neck pillow for airplanes, and a bundt pan.

And afterward, I managed to see the Giants defense forget to fly to Dallas last night, and half of their team end up hurt in the locker room. It's rare that Eli Manning puts up 35 points in one weekend, so I'm classifying this as a missed opportunity.

Internet People!

This video is definitely worth investing just over three minutes of your life into watching.

It's a brief history of funny or stupid internet clips, and the people who earned 5 minutes of fame because of them (it can't be 15 minutes...things move faster with the Internet).

It's pretty amazing how many references I remembered...

Dealing with idiots

I spent much of Friday dealing with idiots. And in most cases, I was not a nice person to them.

Literally 5 hours on the phone or by email to start my day - many people from different radio stations looking for commercials that they already had somewhere in their respective buildings.

See, Wednesday night, I distributed about 130 unique radio commercials to stations across the country, through a secure commercial distribution interface that they use all the time. Delivery confirmation is readily available in the reporting feature, so it's easy to see if and when somebody from the station has accessed the email.

The problems - I did not tell the sales reps that I was going to do this (I shouldn't have to), they seem to communicate poorly (or, not at all) with their in-house co-workers who are responsible for opening these emails, and those responsible for opening these emails didn't always open them (or, for that matter read the instructions in clear bold text that accompanied each order).

The whole point in using this mechanism was to avoid individual emails to each station, and worrying that my emails will end up in spam boxes (as seems to occur with our business domain sometimes).

I almost hit the bottle last night, but Summer Lent is all about will power, and I'm close to its end.

Things seem fine for now. I'm expecting, however, some more fireworks on Monday, when our ads are supposed to begin. Happy times, serenity now. 13 days until some booze.

Add one more to the Veto List

The veto list has grown.

With the reasoning that life is too short to deal with crap that makes me unhappy, I am adding Bruegger's Bagels in Kenmore onto the list as a conditional veto - conditional simply because we often order bagels and coffee from them for morning meetings when we have guests, and I'm fine with consuming that portion of their menu.

Their stinginess with portions is what kills me. Whoever runs this joint has their employees on a very tight leash. Perhaps it's watching them assemble sandwiches and salads that reveals the actual quantities of how much (or how little) actually goes into what they peddle.

Their dome-covered salad bowls (that they make for you under your guidance) are meant to be filled to the brim, not 80% full. I'll have 3 pepper rings, not 2, please. Good lord.

When you order a sandwich and are asked "one slice of cheese or two," you realize that that extra slice will run you another 50 cents. Benevolence be gone.

Today, I received my salad, but not the little piece of bread that usually goes with it. I asked about the bread, and the guy behind the counter responded that they didn't have any today (um....you are a bakery). To his credit, he sauntered over to the bagels, and cut one up, giving me what appears to be about 15% of a bagel as my bread. Way to underwhelm me, yet again.

Not once have I ever walked into that store excited to be eating there, nor have I ever walked out with a quantity of food that I perceived to be a good value for what I paid.

Not once.

We need a Cosi or Au Bon Pain or something nearby. I don't mind a 10 or 15 minute walk to other options, but I need to multiply those walks by 2 for the round-trip, and sometimes I just don't have that time to spare during business hours. I guess that's what I get for convenience.

The take-away options in Kenmore are limited, which is why it is tough to add one of those few options to this list. But it must be done. Bruegger's Bagels in Kenmore - veto.

Still on the Wagon

Yesterday was Day 22 of my Summer Lent, and I'm still on the wagon.

It's more difficult to avoid soda than it is booze, to be honest. I just never realized how much soda I consumed. Even though most of what I had drunk were diet or sugar-free equivalents of the full liquid candy bars that are main line carbonated beverages, I had a sense that diet sodas weren't the answer to clean living.

The coffee / tea / seltzer / water component is growing a bit old, but at least I know that the liquids I'm putting inside of me were not manufactured by chemistry majors. (Although I did add milk into that equation when I began desiring cereal for breakfast...and lord knows what hormones they give to cows these days)

I am simply amazed at the social role of alcohol in the lives of (relatively) young Bostonians like myself. You meet people for drinks, you have a drink with dinner, you drink on the beach, drink at the game, meet friends for drinks after work - it's everywhere. That's what I miss the most. When "another round" includes your third club soda, that blows.

It's simply no fun being the furthest from drunk among a group of people drinking. And it's definitely not the physical feeling obtained from drinking alcohol as much as the connection with others while drinking.

Now I can (partly) understand how difficult life is for recovering alcoholics - people who have a dependency on the bottle but are able to kick that need must struggle through the social aspects of watching and interacting with friends and family who are drinking.

Two No-Hitters

I have been going to MLB games since 1980 or 1981. Let's say I have been to an average of 5 games every season, and let's say it's 27 seasons. That's 135 games total.

The odds are very low to have seen one no-hitter out of 135 games.

But now, I have seen TWO.

It's well documented that I am from New York originally. The Yankees are my team. I try to put it into perspective with Sox fans who live here and question my allegiance to them while living in Boston. I ask them if they would suddenly become fans of the Yankees if they moved to New york, and then usually it makes sense to them.

I gotta admit, six innings into the game, 8-0 Sox, no-hitter brewing, I absolutely became a fan of the game over a fan of any particular team. Three innings of yelling and screaming for the no-hitter did indeed coincide with cheering for the Sox to win, but truly I just waned to no-hitter. I pledged that if hit #1 came, I'd be done aligning myself with the rest of the crowd there.

But it never came, and it was awfully fun to witness history and to be cheering along with everyone else at Fenway (for me, that NEVER happens).

The other no hitter I witnessed was back in 1997 in Pittsburgh when the Pirates still played in Three Rivers Stadium.

It was fireworks night, they had an extremely rare sellout crowd (we scalped tickets), and the Pirates needed 10 innings before they put up any runs. But when they did, the place went crazy. Two pitchers combined for the no-no, but Francisco Cordova indeed pitched the full nine innings of the regular game. The Pirates just could not score a run to support the effort. It was bizarre. Finally a walk-off three-tun homer in the bottom of the 10th sealed the no-hitter.

I Touch Myself

Something last night left me speechless. That is rare.

I live in a fish bowl. Well, not exactly...but the density of homes here in Southie permits for easy access to what's happening within neighbors' dwellings.

Last night, I finished watching TV in the living room, and went to drop my glass off in the sink before heading to bed.

My kitchen was dark, and I didn't turn the light on because the trip there was supposed to be a quick one.

Right when I turned to corner to walk toward my sink, I could not help but notice what was going on in the kitchen next door. There is a window above my sink, and their window is about five feet beyond mine.

Their kitchen lights were on, and sitting there in a chair next to laundry piles on their kitchen table was a lady, off in her own special happy place, performing an act.

Let's just say....her headlights were showing, and she was double-clicking her mouse.

New Combat Zone

To append my previous posting...I thought a few words describing the hell that is Kenmore Square were worth a few minutes out of my work day.

Forget the disaster that is the MBTA's aethstetic destruction of whatever scenery actually does exist on both street-level Kenmore and underground on the T, but I'm entirely tired of the plywood makeshift walls, orange cones, netting, heavy equipment, asphalt masquerading as sidewalk, chopped up streets, and uneven sidewalks.

Add to that minivans and SUV's filled with clueless out of town drivers with about-to-enter-college children in tow (who undoubtedly want to be rid of mum and dad after a summer of almost independence).

Top it off with large groups of pedestrians and the Red Sox home this weekend, and I'm officially moving Boston's Combat Zone, albeit temporarily, to Kenmore Square.

Moving day in Boston

I spent part of my evening yesterday sweating profusely while assisting Karin with a few heavy items she was moving from her summer rental into her real apartment in Brighton.

I'm fascinated by the stats of how many leases actually turn over on 9/1 in Boston. It's a startling number that I forget - something like 75% perhaps, the majority of those being in Allston / Brighton I would imagine.

Evidence of people moving was already in full effect, with boxes and discarded furniture on the streets, moving trucks and pickups double-parked, and people carrying lots of stuff into and out of buildings.

Assisting with a few items reminded me of my current age (which no longer begins with a 1 or a 2), and my intense desire for cold temperatures over warm ones any day of the week, since once I begin sweating, it's difficult to stop.

This weekend will be incomplete until some idiot gets his or her moving truck stuck at a Storrow Drive overpass. Seems to happen every year at least once.

Best corn thus far

I headed to my eye doctor earlier to get a pair of glasses repaired, but my real reason for the journey (besides having to move my car from our back-alley parking spot and my sheer laziness to climb all the way up 4 flights of stairs only to return back down soon thereafter for lunch) was finding yet another reason to make my way to Copley Square this afternoon (it's Tuesday = Farmer's Market day).

Today seemed to be tomato and sunflower day, because there were many vendors with TONS of those products. When you're used to shopping at Shaw's or Stop & Shop, where the produce section is remarkably the same year 'round (less some peaches in the summer and apple cider in the fall), seeing an overabundance of a particular type of produce is proof positive about what is currently ripe and in season.

I bought some raspberries, ground coffee, and corn (I already had some tomatoes) - all three of which I sampled when I came home, and all three of which were very very good. The corn was so sweet and succulent - absolutely my favorite of the season thus far, and the coffee smelled delicious in the car, that I brewed a pot this evening to have with dinner.

The best part is that I didn't even drop my eyeglasses off for repair, but rather scheduled an eye appointment for Thursday, in case my prescription changed and I need an adjustment in the lenses too. I should have scheduled it for Friday because it's Farmer's Market day at Copley again!

Dolor de cabeza

I have a splitting headache right now. So, naturally my inclination is to post on Platinum Elite.

I'm not usually prone to headaches. Therefore, I should recall the events of the day that are atypical of my usual Monday routine.

1. I spoke with my parents on the drive to work.

2. I did not leave my office building between 8:45am and 8:45pm

3. I threw my socks away at work today

Everything else was pretty standard for a Monday.

It seems to me that every time I discard my socks at work, I get a splitting headache. I won't be doing THAT anymore.

Peace offering

My standoff with itunes has ended, and I'm back on their downloading bandwagon.

This morning, I added a few new songs from M.I.A. and Rilo Kiley. I think M.I.A.'s first CD was so original and different. The new one has some songs that are great, and some I just can't see myself listening to, so I went the itunes a la carte route.

The new Rilo Kiley, however, has more songs than I thought I would like. Their new single is called "The Moneymaker," and while I definitely like it, their old time indie pop fans seem up at arms (God forbid bands evolve or make records that have some pop sensibilities if they began along the indie route).

I thought I would check my most played itunes tracks (I love this feature for some reason), and I'm not sure what to make of these 20 songs besides realizing that most have remained on my active playlist for some time, and I just never seem to skip many of them...hence the highest amount of plays.

I do know that I was at the John Legend show last night at Fenway - my final concert of the summer - and he didn't sing the one song of his that I liked the most (#19). Instead, he spent most of his time on stage sweating and gyrating with some lady who joined him on stage for a slow dance (in all honesty..he was very good).

More currency

It has been a bit of a surreal week for the staff here at Platinum Elite. Marge took the week off, Nancy has been under the weather, and Phyllis unexpectedly quit. There's an open position now for an inside sales person, if anybody is interested.


I have been consumed with my "other" job, and been working late and/or early all week. Somehow, through it all, I have managed to complete a full week with exactly one dollar bill in my wallet. Perfect time to get mugged (which did not happen). I didn't even break out the plastic all that much to compensate. I'm going to the ATM today, however, to end my cash poor status.

Ambiguously content

My mood today is content, for a specific reason.

I would prefer not to articulate why, but my state of being content has nothing to do with anyone who reads Platinum Elite.

Perhaps I'm loading up on good fortune, since I have found two heads-up pennies this week already.

But, we'll just leave it at that. Have a great day, readers!

2 for 3 on istockphoto

Lord - getting approved on istockphoto is sure difficult! I am up to two of three approved photos (the second one, a bit begrudgingly on their part, with their backhanded approval of one of my Dubrovnik pictures with the comment: "Ok - do be aware of focus issues")

I keep reminding myself that this is all fine, and it's a good approval process, as it keeps out the less skilled amateurs from uploading. For now, I'm one of those less skilled amateurs it seems. But one more approved photo, and then the fun begins.

With my new Digital SLR, I think I have a better shot now. I am still getting a handle on lighting and such, so after reviewing my pics from over the weekend from the Boston Harbor islands, it's a bit strange that I'm selecting a close-up of a valve on the boat that brought us out to Spectacle Island, but I think it's a good shot with a clear subject in the foreground, and a blurry background for effect (I did that on purpose!)

Their issues with all rejected photos have been "artifacts" in the photos when viewed at full size. This photo of limes is the latest not to make the cut. I'm having a difficult time determining if the photos have artifacts, so we'll see if this one is artifact-free. I still like the pic.

Pat Rent-a-Car

My summer concert tour de force continued this weekend with two shows at the Bank of America Pavilion.

Friday night was Nickel Creek, who played for over two hours straight, and had Fiona Apple join them for about 30% of the show. I have seen them three times now, and they are a tough band to watch live. Many of their songs are instrumental, or have very quiet vocals, and generally the audience does not simply sit there and listen. Rather, they talk to their friends. So, every Nickel Creek show I have attended has featured a dull mutter from the crowd during the entire show, which I find disrespectful on the concert-goers parts.

Last night was much different, and much louder. Pat Benatar played, now giving equal billing to her husband/guitarist/collaborator Neil Giraldo. Pat has not had a hit in the US in 19 years, and the bulk of her hits were from 1979-1983, so it's safe to say this was a nostalgia show.

And the audience reflected that! Lots of bedazzled jeans, big stomachs, frosted hair, and a lady in leopard print spandex pants who hit on Ryan twice.

In looking at her hits online, it's kind of surprising she did not sing "Fire and Ice" and "You Better Run" during her set. Everything else was pretty standard. Technically, she had 15 US Top 40 hits, but the real mystery was twofold. First does she close with "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Heartbreaker," or "Love Is A Battlefield" (Heartbreaker closed the show, Battlefield closed the encore). Second, can she still hit the high notes in Heartbreaker (answer=no...but she had quite a range and powerful voice nonetheless).

Pat miscellany:

I had an old co-worker who would always refer to Pat as "Pat Rent-a-Car," which I found a bit amusing.

Last season during kickball, our most fun post-game celebration was with a team that we dubbed "the nicest team ever," because, well, they were. We went out drinking with them at some dive in Somerville after the game, and we were able to convince the DJ to play "Love Is A Battlefield," AND a condition of that song being played was that members of our team (to remain nameless) were to do the Pat Benatar boob dance that she does at the end of the video. It was probably a lot funnier after copious amounts of beer.

istockphoto.com

I was recommended to check out istockphoto.com a couple weeks ago, and I can see this site becoming my new obsession. It's a great website that can be used for fully-licensed, inexpensive photos. The site, however, seems to double as a cool artist's community with vibrant forums and profiles for the photographers.

In an effort to weed out the less serious artists, istockphoto.com requires people to complete an approval process, which consists of a brief 10-question test about their policies, and the submission of three photos to be judged on whatever they're looking for, before they are permitted to upload photos

It's more difficult than it seems. Reading the message boards, I am keenly aware of how excited people become upon their approval from the site, and how frequently photos are turned down for a variety of reasons.

I'm a casual photographer, and am fascinated by this site. Just the thought of taking pictures that other people elect to view and possibly purchase is so flattering to me. I know I have a good eye for photo composition, and have always enjoyed taking pictures - all the way back to high school when I constantly snapped pictures for the yearbook. I just bought a brand new 10 megapixel Canon digital SLR camera, which arrived yesterday and is sweet.

So far, I have one of three photos approved (one of home plate). The more I look at the photo that they approved, the more I really like it's simplicity and quality. The dirt isn't perfect, the pebbles and grains are distinct and visible, and the subject is obvious.

According to istockphoto.com's photo evaluators, the two that were rejected had "artifacts" that were visible when viewed full size. I resubmitted two new photos yesterday, but the process takes a week or two before they are able to view them and respond.

The third largest U.S. State

Ugh, second place AGAIN in Team Trivia at C.F. Donovan's last night. We were in the lead the entire way and screwed up the final question (for the record, Connecticut is the third smallest state, not Hawaii as we guessed).

Special acknowledgement to my teammates Ryan, Dan, and Meaghan, without whom we would not have scored a perfect score of twenty points during the written bonus round that consisted of naming Michelle Pfeiffer movies based on one of her co-stars and the year it was released. For the record, I would have answered them all incorrectly. It's one of those questions that after reading them, you're thrilled to be sitting there with the specific people you have on your team.

Have they run out of F's?

Who names a hurricane "Flossie?"

Summer Lent

Every so often, it's worthwhile to dip into the pool of Catholicism and repurpose one of their thoughts or doctrines.

Today is the start of my Summer Lent. 40 days from today, I fly to Rome. What a perfect fit.

It's time for a change. I need some cleansing and redemption.

I have three guidelines for my Summer Lent.

1. No more alcohol for the next 40 days. Cold turkey.

2. The only beverages I will consume will be water, coffee (with half and half is fine), sugar-free flavored seltzer, or unsweetened iced tea. Any unopened containers of diet soda in my home will remain as such, but any already opened containers will be OK for me to finish.

3. I will only play online poker during days in which I had a substantial athletic workout before beginning play (i.e. 10 pushups don't count).

I trust that my friends will be supportive of my Summer Lent, and will police me to the letter of my three rules.

New England Revolution / Gillette Stadium parking lot

Entirely unrelated subject - but how entertaining is Big Brother 8 this season? Could these people hate each other any more? Whether it's truly Evil Dick stirring the pot, or the producers inciting the players and shaping the story the way they want, it's great TV and, as usual, absolutely my guilty pleasure of the summer.

Onward. I went to the New England Revolution game tonight. Ryan invited me to join him in his company's luxury box, which was the first time I had the opportunity to check out those seats. What an amazing vantage point and viewing environment for games at Gillette!

I still don't get the worldwide obsession with soccer. It must have something to do with national pride. Ryan's logic works as well - it's a sport that is simple to play, and can be (and is) played anywhere in the world.

It's confusing to me that the time continues even with the ball going out of bounds, players getting injured, and miscellaneous events that would logically cause a momentary cessation of the timer.

Add to that the eerie silence among the 35,000 fans in the stadium, less a few occasions of excitement.

Tie games, low scores - it just doesn't seem like a sport that Americans are clamoring to get behind.

Beckham didn't even play. In the end, who cares - his presence creates buzz and sells tickets, exactly what MLS wants. Let him ride the pine for most of his time here in the U.S.

What I did see were tons of kids at the stadium - which makes sense. Relatively low ticket prices to watch professional athletes play a game that children play all the time at school is a recipe for a family event.

Which brings me to my gripe of the night - the parking situation at Gillette. Bravo for them to make the parking lots free during soccer events. But if that free parking creates the disorganized chaos that is the pilgrimage back to your vehicle and attempt to get out of the parking lot, then I'd rather pay 20 bucks.

I always wondered what those idiots who I see driving down Landsdowne Street after a Sox game just let out are thinking. Pedestrians enveloping their vehicles, them inching forward as they come perilously close to people weaving in and out between the line of cars.

Now I know the feeling.

We had VIP parking to go with our luxury box seats - pretty much right next to the stadium.

Unfortunately, there was zero order to how people were walking from the stadium to their cars. No orderly line, no fences to keep people and cars separate, no parking lot attendants who seemed to care (or not be talking on their cell phones if they were present).

While I did feel bad for the families who just enjoyed a 1-0 Revs victory attempt to keep their small children from being smooshed between two cars, they could have been using more common sense when it came to walking safely.

Gillette Stadium, on the other hand, should have provided a safer area for which pedestrians could have navigated (not to mention give drivers from my parking area more of a choice of exit route than "drive this way - we're going to make you take Route 1 South home (Bostonians included), and hope that you know that it will intersect with 495 at some point."

People wanting to get home quickly + small children + disorder + dark + lots of cars = recipe for disaster.

Muse live in Boston

I went to the most amazing Muse show last night at Agganis Arena on BU's campus. This band epitomizes "rock star," and their pretention is directed away from traditional rocker excess into a political and social musical commentary that's incredible to watch.

Muse used a few video screens and an awesome light show to enhance the music - I feel like they told a story of some science-fiction battle, mixed with a push toward creating a ground-swell of social change through people organizing and rising up against oppressive governments. I never really viewed their music in this light, so it's an interesting new perspective to have.

I took this video off of You Tube, from their show at MSG a few days ago. I loved the robot video dance march to the tune of "Supermassive Black Hole."

My ears are still ringing.....the perils of good rock music.

You know it's going to be a good weekend when...

....you're driving home down Mass Ave. at 6pm, and at the intersection of Mass Ave. and Columbus, you approach a red traffic light, and see a man running on the right side of the intersection with a gun drawn (he was a cop), and then see 4 or 5 other cop cars swarm the area within minutes, a helicopter circling over head, cops emerging from each car with their respective guns blazing, and then two people apprehended, one in cuffs being walked to a car, the other in cuffs, face down on the ground.

Bring it on!

Lower Depths / Muse / Cold War Kids / Sibling Rivalry

Last night was a busy one - after work, we took Katie out for drinks, since today is her birthday and she (rightfully) has done what we all should do in life...take our birthday off!

We went to Lower Depths in Kenmore, a cool little bar that's beer heavy, wine light, and devoid of hard booze (I'm assuming due to their license). They had their patio doors open, and the scene on the patio was smoky and very "bike messenger," if that paints a picture. I hope we didn't stick out too much because I thought the vibe was cool. They seem to play music off of a MacBook, and we heard lots of Judas Priest and Muse while there (oh...side note...I have an extra ticket for the Muse / Cold War Kids show Sat night, and if any Platinum Elite readers want to join me, just drop me an email at platinumeliteblog@gmail.com).

I left around 7:45 to join Chris and Jamen for dinner, who invited me to Sibling Rivalry. It's Restaurant Week, and always a fun time to explore new digs.

I had never been there before, and must admit that their Restaurant Week menu was the best one I have seen - way more than 2 or 3 choices. They supplied 8 or 9 appetizer choices, and another 8 or 9 entree selections. I had a salad with pancetta and fig to start, then a delicious halibut with escargot, ending with a lemon tart dessert. Add some wine, tax, and tip, and $33 Restaurant Week becomes a $60 debit (that always seems to happen...), but this time well worth it.

Dust Mites

I am overly cognizant of radio marketing these days as we compose our next ad campaign, which will begin soon after Labor Day.

For the past few weeks, there's one ad stuck in my head, that I really don't want to hear any more. I'm not sure how many stations are part of Jordan Furniture's new campaign (WBZ and WBOS are definitely two of them, since that's what i listen to in the mornings).

The crux of their campaign is to buy a new mattress because of dust mites, the excrement of which can double the weight of a mattress after ten years, because they feast on dead skin cells and are the leading cause of asthma.

Interesting angle - gross us out into buying a new mattress. Yuck!

Ambiguously angry

My mood today is angry, for a specific reason.

I would prefer not to articulate why, but my anger has nothing to do with anyone who is reads Platinum Elite.

We'll just leave it at that. Have a great day, readers!

Mean Streets of Southie

The mean streets of Southie have struck me again.

My car has officially been broken into for the first time in my life.

When the dust settled, and I cleaned up what remained of my stuff, I learned that the burglars took....

....nothing.

At first, I thought it was a friend pranking me. But on further thought, I think someone did indeed invade by Jeep.

I don't get it. No forced entry. No broken glass. Perhaps I left the doors unlocked, which I wouldn't put past me, but I do so rarely.

Reading the police blotters, I realize how hot GPS units are these days. Turn around and blink, boom yours is gone. I like my GPS. It was a present from my parents. It was expensive. It got me from Minneapolis to New Orleans. Her name is Jill. I never leave Jill in the car. I don't even leave her cradle on the windshield when she's not helping me (as to not entice situations like this....however my friend Brian told me that it was a good strategy after some of the rubber from his wife's GPS cradle suction cup fused to her windshield during high heat).

I returned to my car Sunday afternoon to find my miscellaneous items scattered about the seats and floor. Tissues, a couple CD's, my sunglasses case, my ipod car player - everything was simply somewhere it didn't belong, but it was all there.

Even the spare change - untouched. There was about $3 in quarters ready for the taking. They passed.

Thieves are becoming less discerning these days. People walk around on trash days and take 5 cent deposit cans from recycling bins, but a robber won't even take coin money right in front of them. I suppose that's a bit unfair, because the logic of that assumes that can collectors are thieves, which they are most certainly not synonymous.

But, next time, I should leave my GPS, meth, or heroin on the front seat for them to find. I won't have to reorganize the rest of my possessions.

Fire at Hackley School

Yesterday, I learned that there was a major fire at my high school, Hackley. A friend of mine emailed me, as did the school. My parents saw the news on the local NYC newscast (which often covers the suburbs), and in our conversation today were amazed that I had heard already (they are still pretty old-school when it comes to realizing how news can travel very quickly in the Internet world we live in).

It appears that the library was struck by lightning overnight last week, and 21 (?!) separate fire departments responded to the massive fire.

We had our commencement photo (I'm in the front row, naturally) taken in front of the library which has now been completely gutted and reduced to nothing but the facade. The building had stood there for over 100 years.

I'm extremely fond of Hackley, even more so than Brown, as I spent 10 years of my life there, and I credit my parents for finding the means to send me to such a great institution. Taking nothing away from those who received public schooling, I believe that Hackley was very instrumental to helping me get to where I am today.

Simpsonized

I'm probably about a week or two late with this, but I finally Simpsonized myself yesterday.

For some reason, I'm wearing all black at the Kwik-E-Mart. Going for the urban hipster / ironic writer look, I suppose.

Word of Mouth 101

We have some folks in from out of town this week at work, and usually that involves lots of business meals.


Last night, we went to Bouchee - a restaurant I haven't been to since last November.


It appears that in the time between visits, our CEO and his wife have become well acquainted with the restaurant's menu and staff. During our meal, numerous employees greeted us, stopped by the table, or chatted at length with us.


The food is quite good, but the customer service was the real winner last night. After asking for the check, we were brought four plates and not one, but THREE complimentary desserts to share.


If our CEO and his wife arranged for that in advance (which I don't believe they did), that was a smart move, making them look well-connected and well-known there.


If the restaurant did that on their own (which I do believe is what happened), that simple gesture made them remarkable in my mind. Very smart business move.


You never know who your talkers are. Get to the talkers, give them good things to say, and let them talk about you. Word of Mouth 101.